Leaders Stand Out
I grew up on Sesame Street, and still to this day have so many songs in my head from 40+ years ago. This morning reading Titus the Sesame Street song that rings in my head is “One of these things is not like the other...” Do you remember it? Check this 30 second clip out on YouTube and maybe it will flood back into your mind.
One of these things is not like the other...that is what I think about when I think about great leadership. Just like in the Sesame Street video, you see the blue balloon stand out in the crowd of the red balloons. Great leaders are seen, they stand out, they don’t blend into the crowd or the culture of the world. In today’s environment and honestly environments of the past decade and generations this can be a challenge. As a Christian leader, leading in the business world can bring its inherent challenges, but our actions are so important to represent our beliefs. We must stand out like the blue balloon and resist to blend in and fade into the sea of red balloons.
Paul, bringing Titus his orders to get the church in Crete in order makes this crystal clear. Paul points out the culture in Crete and brings clarity to the environment Titus is walking into.
“For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This saying is true...” - Titus 1:10-13a NIV
This was the culture and environment of the church, the businesses, and city at large. A culture of dishonesty, a culture of disruption, lies, laziness and twisting towards dishonest gains. In all reality, this doesn’t sound much different than some business and political cultures I have seen. This is the line up of red balloons. A culture of dishonesty, bending the truth and just fudging the numbers to reflect gains and pad the pockets of the business. Maybe a political environment that is win at all costs, hide, coverup, distort reality and bring a deep sense of fear where the truth cannot come out.
In the middle of this culture, Paul bring clarity to Titus on what is needed. Blue balloons are needed, leaders who look different and stand out in the midst of the corruption. There will be no way to confuse the two, these leaders will be stand outs and different.
“Each of them must be above reproach, devoted solely to his wife, whose children are believers and not rebellious or out of control. The overseer, since he serves God’s household, must be someone of blameless character and not be opinionated or short-tempered. He must not be a drunkard or violent or greedy. Instead he should be one who is known for his hospitality and a lover of goodness. He should be recognized as one who is fair-minded, pure-hearted, and self-controlled. He must have a firm grasp of the trustworthy message that he has been taught. This will enable him to both encourage others with healthy teachings and provide convincing answers to those who oppose his message.” - Titus 1:6-9 TPT
Christian leaders in our churches, businesses, governments and beyond need to stand out. You and I have a clear message here from Paul, to be above reproach, living a life where our actions are inline with our beliefs. Having the knowledge of the Gospel isn’t enough, it must change and transform us and our actions must fall in line with our beliefs.
“They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.” - Titus 1:16 NIV